give me a sign
by street smarts
Summary: the uso tour comes to a close and beca is left wondering what could've been. once a mashup of hers goes viral soon after she signed with dj khaled, she's got some explaining to do. / bechloe
1. chapter one

**hello everyone! my name is flora, and i hope y'all enjoy this story. i'm bechloe trash and also shawn mendes trash, so that's pretty much why this exists. it's based off of treat you better (because that song is the best?) and also my love for beca mixing lmao**

**with that, i hope you enjoy _give me a sign !_**

* * *

Beca Mitchell was many things. She was witty, tiny, and usually grumpy. She was warmhearted, passionate, and accepting. She was also rude, snappy, and jealous. The latter had been bubbling up in her chest far more frequently than it should have, and, quite frankly, she was getting sick of it. It had been a long time coming, she supposed. After all, Chloe had been blatantly upfront with her attraction to Chicago. The redhead had been staring at him with a far off and dreamy look in her eyes. She'd been asking the Bellas if they thought he was nice, and even if they thought he'd be good in bed.

So really, Beca had no right to complain. She felt incredibly selfish for wishing that things had turned out differently. She felt selfish for wishing that Chloe's beautiful blue eyes were focused on her. She felt selfish for wishing that soldier would spontaneously combust. (Okay, maybe she felt guilty for that last thought as well.)

When the time with the Bellas had ended, things quickly took a turn for the worse. Amy had moved out of the shared apartment with a final hurrah of "I'm rich, bitches!" Chloe had been increasingly spending less and less time with Beca, with any free moment spared to FaceTime Chicago. It made Beca sick to her stomach, and she ignored the voice in her head that told her that she'd been replaced. The redhead had even taken Amy's bed, further solidifying that her friend was no longer needed.

With everything weighing heavy on her mind, Beca had taken to mixing again. Every time she'd sit down to work, she was transported back to working on the Freedom! '90 beat on Khaled's equipment. The file was saved on her own computer, and playing it in the background always seemed to quiet her thoughts enough to where she could get some decent sleep. Sometimes, she'd wake up for a brief moment and catch Chloe looking at her sadly from across the room.

It had happened again tonight, and Beca found herself sitting up to finally confront her best friend about the sudden distance that had separated them so easily. Unfortunately, Chloe seemed to have other ideas, because she promptly pulled the blankets back over her and turned away from Beca's hopeful gaze. Normally, the younger woman would've started working on another mix to take her mind off of it, but her equipment was currently settled in the backseat of her car after an impromptu visit to her mother's.

With a sigh, the brunette stood up and looked for a jacket to prepare for the surprisingly chilly night; she quickly tied up the laces of her sneakers, not bothering to check if the shoes even matched in the first place. Already wearing a pair of leggings, Beca pulled a hoodie over her small frame, grabbed her phone, and slipped out the door.

Her car was parked in its usual spot, at the far end of the parking space allotted for the residents of their apartment building. Beca clicked the button on her keys, the headlights flashing on to signify that the car had been unlocked. She grabbed onto the cold handle and yanked the door open, sliding into the driver's seat with practiced ease. She hurriedly started up the vehicle, hoping that the heater might warm up the chill settling in her chest.

"God, Chloe." she found herself muttering, putting the car in reverse and pulling out of her parking spot. Shifting the car into drive once she was in a good position, Beca drove out onto the street and turned the radio on to fill the silence. The end of a song she didn't recognize filled the air, and the voices of the radio hosts quickly took over.

The drive itself had no destination, especially since New York was so far from the place that the brunette called home. At one point in time, home was just a place she called the house she lived in. When her parents divorced, home was two separate places always fighting for the top spot in her heart. When she started her first year at Barden, home became the room where the Bellas rehearsed. Then it became the Bella house that'd been passed on to Emily, and then it was the shitty apartment that she was living in now.

"_I won't lie to you. I know he's just not right for you."_

Beca slammed on the brakes, effectively earning a few honks from the angry drivers behind her. She quickly rolled down her window, effortlessly flipping them the finger before she accelerated again. The song continued to play, steadily making the ache in Beca's heart grow.

"_And you're spending all your time in this wrong situation, and any time you want it to stop…"_

With what had to be her thirtieth sigh of the night, she turned on her blinker once she spotted the nearest exit that would lead her out of the large city. As the chorus blared through the speakers, Beca absentmindedly harmonized with Shawn's voice.

"Baby please have mercy on me, take it easy on my heart."

And as the song faded into another, and many more after that, the bright lights of New York City settled behind Beca, no longer illuminating the road ahead of her. Buildings were far and few between, but one road sign displayed the name of a small motel about a mile from her. It was too late to head back to her apartment, and since she didn't feeling like dealing with more of the cold shoulder from Chloe, the former captain of the Bellas decided that this would be her best bet.

She turned off the radio once the music turned to static, and the rest of the drive was silent.

Upon arriving to the motel, Beca noted that it was fairly packed. Hopefully she'd be able to even get a room. She bit down on her bottom lip as she looked into the backseat to see what she had. She was almost surprised to see her mixing equipment, and now that she had an idea for a new mashup, having it was nothing short of a miracle in her eyes.

She managed to gather her things before she headed inside, which consisted of a duffel bag with emergency clothes, two water bottles, a couple of granola bars, and a throw blanket.

The door chimed above her as she pushed it open, relief flooding through every fiber of her being because it wasn't locked.

"Hi there, welcome to Georgia's Motel! You need a room?" The voice that greeted Beca sounded awfully similar to Chloe's mother's voice, but she wrote it off as lack of sleep.

"Uh, yes. Do you have any?"

"Let me check, I'm sure I can find one."

The woman, who Beca assumed was Georgia, quickly started typing at the computer sitting at the front desk, her eyebrows furrowed in concentration. Beca took a moment to take in her surroundings; the motel was mostly decorated in shades of red and brown, miscellaneous figurines sitting along the shelves and the fireplace.

"Well, you're in luck. I've got room in 4b." Georgia smiled at Beca as she grabbed a key from the rack behind her. "That'll be forty-five dollars, sixty if you want breakfast provided in the morning."

Without putting much thought into it, Beca pulled out three twenty dollar bills, along with a few ones, and handed it to the woman.

"Alright, here's your key. Do you need help getting your things to your room?"

Beca takes the key, shaking her head. "No thanks, I can manage."

With that, the two women exchanged goodbyes and the younger of the two quickly stepped out to find her room. Once she did, she shoved the key into the lock and twisted it, pushing the door open once the click met her ears.

While it was a struggle, Beca managed to get everything inside and lock the door behind her. It'd been such a long time since she'd lifted her equipment on a daily basis, and her arms were tired after she managed to set everything up on the single bed. Thinking back on it, this was the most active Beca had been with her mixing since become co-captain of the Bellas, and her heart ached again as she was reminded Chloe.

The brunette set the pillows up against the bed frame, taking a seat and leaning back against them so she could work comfortably. She pulled her headphones over her ears and got to work, falling back into the mentality she had during the year that started it all.


	2. chapter two

**hello again! i really didn't expect to have another chapter done so soon! i also didn't expect this many follows and favorites lmao. thank y'all so much! i hope you guys enjoy this chapter, though i do have something to note real quick!**

**if you're curious about beca's mix, i've decided on using adrian mashups's treat you better/mercy mashup! please give that a listen and support the content creator because they're honestly really good! oh, and also the f bomb is dropped lmao**

**with that, i hope y'all enjoy chapter two of _give me a sign!_**

* * *

_**Beca what the hell! You can't just leave in the middle of the night without telling me! **__9:17 am, from Chlo_

_**Becs, I'm worried, please answer your phone. I've called like a million times **__9:30 am, from Chlo_

_**Just please call me when you see these. **__10:01 am, from Chlo_

_**Beca, I'm sure that you're asleep, considering the time you last texted me, but that mashup you posted already has 900k hits! Khaled is really impressed with your work. **__11:12 am, from Theo_

_**I mean, you already knew that **__11:13, from Theo_

_**But you know what I mean. Give me a call when you can! **__11:14, from Theo_

Beca woke up with a headache and a dying phone. Sunlight peeked in from behind the curtains, and memories of the previous night started coming back to her. It had been four am when she'd finally finished the mashup, and she uploaded it to YouTube, an action that could only be blamed on the lack of sleep.

Groaning, she sat up and checked her missed calls. She was almost surprised by the overwhelming amount of times Chloe had tried to contact her. Forty-six was the exact number, and Beca almost wanted to give in and call her right away. Her finger hovered over Chloe's contact name, but instead she clicked on Theo's, holding her phone up to her ear.

"Well good morning to you, Sleeping Beauty!" His voice was far too loud for her to deal with, but she decided to put up with it, if only for a little while.

"Yeah, you too. You wanted me to call you?"

Rustling was heard on the other end, like Theo was looking for something.

"Yes, actually! Khaled was impressed by your mashup, and he wanted to see if you'd be interested in working with the artist."

"Oh, that's it?" Beca yawned, hardly registering what her friend had said.

"What do you mean, '_that's it?' _Khaled is giving you the chance to work with Shawn Mendes!"

"Oh, that's cool." She hummed, leaning back against the stack of pillows that she'd forgotten to adjust last night.

"Tell you what, I'll tell Khaled that you're down, and I'll let you get back to doing nothing. Sound good?" Theo sounded amused, and if she was fully awake, he'd definitely be getting an earful.

"I knew there was a reason I kept you around." Beca laughed, shutting her eyes as she yawned once again.

"Yeah, yeah. I'll let you go, but please give Chloe a call. She called me ten times this morning to ask where you were."

"Alright, will do."

"You don't sound all that worried." He commented, concern finding its way into his words.

"Whatever Theo, I gotta go."

"Beca, wait—"

She hurriedly hung up, tossing her phone down onto the bed as if it had burned her skin. She tried not to think about Chloe as she buried her face into her hands, heart thrumming wildly against her rib cage. Instead of calling her friend _(best friend, she reminded herself,) _Beca decided to change into another set of clothes. As she climbed off of the bed, the sight of her shoes caught her eye. They didn't match, but they were at least the same brand.

Sighing under her breath, the brunette tugged on the pair of emergency jeans, not bothering to change the faded t-shirt that she'd slept in. She slipped her socks back on before tugging on the mismatched Converse and lacing them up. After gathering her belongings, Beca checked out of the motel and walked out to her car. She unlocked it and tossed everything save for her equipment into the backseat, setting the valued items into the passenger seat of her car. With everything situated, she slid into the driver's seat.

Once the car roared to life, the bright numbers of her clock greeted her.

_**12:34 pm **_

Beca groaned as she pulled out of the parking lot, dreading the moment when she'd step into the door of her apartment. At least she'd have time to clear her thoughts during the nice long drive ahead of her.

* * *

It was sometime after two when she carried her mixing equipment through the door. The living room was strangely quiet, even more so than when Chloe was at work. That alone should've been a red flag, but Beca was too occupied with getting everything situated on her desk. Once her things were back in their rightful place, the brunette fell back onto her bed in an attempt to calm her rapidly beating heart as a certain redhead filled her thoughts once again.

"There you are!" Chloe's voice was stern, but it didn't sound sincere. "I've been looking for you all day, you know that, right? You weren't at work, you weren't here, so tell me. Where were you?"

"I'm not in the mood, Chloe."

"I don't care! You don't get to go out in the middle of the night and give me a heart attack! What on earth were you thinking?"

"I was thinking about how you never fucking talk to me! Is that a good answer?"

By now, Beca was back on her feet and in Chloe's face, the two of them staring each other down as their voices raised in volume.

"I _totes_ talk to you!" The older woman fired back, her blue eyes already threatening to overflow with the tears that were steadily building up.

"No you don't! All you do is talk to Chicago and work!"

"I'm sorry that not all of us get a fany job working with DJ Khaled!"

Beca stepped back, obviously insulted by what Chloe had said. "You said you were happy for me!"

"Yeah, I say a lot of things I don't mean. Like when I told Amy that I was happy she was moving out!"

"Please, you were _definitely _happy that she moved out. You finally have a bed all to yourself and the space to talk to your Army boyfriend whenever you want!" Each word hung heavy in the air around them, as if it were trying to fuel the already blazing fire.

"So what if I talk to him? We really hit it off and I'm excited to see where this things goes. Why do you care so much?" Chloe narrowed her eyes at her friend, arms crossed over her chest.

Beca paused, unsure of what to say. Why did she care so much? Was it because she didn't think Chicago was good enough? Was it because she just missed Chloe spending time with her? Or was it because of something else…

"You know what? I'm out of here. I'll look for somewhere else to stay. I'll be back for my shit later."

Before Chloe could protest, the brunette had grabbed her keys and was out the door. She slammed it shut behind her, her friend's voice calling out to her.

"Beca, wait!"

The redhead stood at the end of the hallway, watching her best friend disappear down the stairs that led to the lobby. Her heart was aching, and she didn't know what to do. Her phone went off, and she pulled it out from her back pocket.

_New notification from YouTube. _

_Treat You Better/Mercy Mashup from Beca Mitchell._


End file.
